


Just One Yesterday

by RedQueenSang



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DCU (Comics), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Astra is Kara's mother, F/M, Kryptonian Ray Palmer, Referenced Past Sexual Assault/Rape (Never Shown), Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:27:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28708911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedQueenSang/pseuds/RedQueenSang
Summary: Amanda Waller made a mistake when she rescued Oliver Queen from Lian Yu and brought him to Cadmus. She wanted someone she could use to get information from the aliens that had fallen to Earth inside the prison ship. A miscalculation that they would attack any human led to Oliver being taken in by the Kryptonians on Fort Rozz. To correct her mistake she did something deplorable, and now years later, the consequences are coming home to roost.Oliver is oblivious until the meeting where Ray Palmer tried to take his company, and none other than Lor-Zod walked in, claiming to be representing Starrware Industries, and telling him that people he thought dead are still alive, the most important one calling herself Kara Starr.
Relationships: John Diggle/Lyla Michaels, Kara Danvers/Oliver Queen, Oliver Queen/Kara Zor-El, Ray Palmer/Felicity Smoak
Comments: 21
Kudos: 39





	1. Be My Escape

**Author's Note:**

> I swear this is the last of the new stories ~~until the bunnies bite me again~~. I've had scenes from this written for months, but swore I wouldn't post it until I got Part II of Dreamworlds up, and now it is! This picks up in Season 3, Episode 1 of Arrow, and replaces the China arc. I'd love for you to give it a chance!

_ “I want to go home.” Oliver said flatly to the woman. “I’ll even pay, I won’t say anything about where I am, or what’s here. I just want to go back to Starling City.” _

_ Amanda Waller smiles at him, but he knew it wasn’t a smile he could trust. “Your country needs a man like you, Mr. Queen. You’ve seen what’s here.” _

_ “I’m just a rich kid.” Oliver argued. “I’m not one of your soldiers. I don’t know anything about aliens.” _

_ “You know they’re a threat to us, if we don’t have control of them.” Walker replied. "And you know how to hurt someone." _

_ “All I see are people in cages.” Oliver lied, trying to pull on what bravery he had. “Prisoners just like me.” _

_ Oh, you’re not a prisoner, Mr. Queen, you’re a guest.” Amanda disagreed. _

_ “Then let me leave.” Oliver snapped. _

_ “Find your way out, Mr. Queen, and we’ll talk.” Amanda replied, “but I promise you, by the time you do, you’ll know I’m right.” _

_ She walked out of the nondescript windowless meeting room, taking her guards with her and letting the door open. _

_ He knew it was a challenge, a bet, but he didn’t care. Instead, Oliver ran through the installation, military or something like it, looking for any weak spots or an area he could escape. It wasn’t a normal place, and he knew it. He had seen what some of those cells deep in the ground held. He had once thought he would die on the Island, but had dreamed of rescue more than once. He hadn’t known rescue would be worse. _

_ He spotted what looked like a maintenance ladder, and pulled it down as quietly as he could before quickly ascending it, hoping for something at the other end. He was running along some sort of catwalk when the guards found him, and while he tried to fight, and took out several with dirty tricks learned from Slade, soon enough one tossed him off the catwalk and he saw the floor coming. _

_ As he came to, he couldn’t open his eyes, like his body was paralysed,.  _

_ “The General is going to be angry that you saved an enemy.” One voice said. _

_ “He was attacked by Cadmus’s guards. Human or not, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” A second voice, this one female, said. “Maybe he will help us.” _

_ “You have too much hope, Kara.” The first voice said, obviously disapproving. _

_ “Hope is a choice, Lor-Zod.” Kara replied. “And I have to believe we can choose to be better than what species we are born, or what does that say about me?” _

_ There was a blown out breath, and the first voice, Lor-Zod, answered. “Fine. I’ll help you, but you owe me, Ze.” _

_ “He’s awake.” Kara said, reaching out and removing something from the side of his face. “Peace, friend. We mean you no harm. We only kept you still so we could heal your injuries from the guards.”  _

_ Whatever was paralyzing him let loose, and Oliver opened his eyes, looking up at a normal face, with blonde hair and blue eyes, who had just gone too heavy on the eyeliner and black lipstick. “Thanks.” He rasped out, throat dry, trying for a smile, and apparently succeeding as the girl smiled back. _

* * *

Oliver couldn’t help but feel the strange stab of guilt as Felicity left, that he had been feeling since the showdown with Slade. He had things he wanted to say, but he didn’t know if he  _ should _ say them. He didn’t know if they were true, or if they were just the easy answer. The answer that would keep the rest of his team together. The dreams...the  _ memories  _ he had been dreaming...since that night just muddied the waters.

“I'm going to roll out, too. Lyla has me trying to build the bassinet from hell.” John said, walking toward the exit.

“That reminds me…” Oliver said, stopping him, and bringing out the gift he had made for the baby, “I figured since you and Lyla are having a girl…”

“Man, you can not afford this.” John argued, turning the necklace in his hand, the silver bright in the gloom of the Arrowcave. 

“I can’t afford anything,” Oliver agreed. “Which is why I made it.” He tried to smile, albeit self-deprecating. “Arrowheads, one of the few things that I can make.”

“Well, it’s beautiful, thank you.” John replied, smiling.

“Congratulations, John. And not just on the baby. You and Lyla are happy.” Oliver couldn’t help if a bit of the longing and confusion he was feeling came out in his voice.

“You should try it sometime.” John replied.

“Last girlfriend, she's in the League of Assassins. A girlfriend before that, she shot my first girlfriend.” Oliver paused for a moment, knowing that, as always, John was the only person he could turn to for advice. “The girlfriend in the middle, she died in my arms. I’m not...I’m not exactly a catch at the moment.”

John’s eyebrows went up at that. “Now that’s a story I haven’t heard.” 

“I haven’t felt up to talking about it before.” Oliver admitted. 

“Well, maybe Felicity can change all that.” John said, trying to change the tone of the conversation.

“It’s...it’s not the right time.” Oliver admitted. 

“Things are as good now as ever will be, Oliver. And you love her. You even told her so.” John replied. 

“I was trying to fool Slade.” Oliver defended. 

“Yes. Except now the only person you're fooling is yourself.” John agreed.

“I think I’ve just stopped.” Oliver disagreed. “Since the thing with Slade. I...I didn’t treat her like  _ Felicity _ , John, and ever since I can’t get the thought out of my head that my feelings for Felicity aren’t because of  _ Felicity _ . They’re because Felicity reminds me of Kara. That’s not fair to Felicity.”

John leaned back. “Tell me about Kara.” 

Oliver sighed. “Did you ever hear of Project Cadmus?”

John’s eyebrows went up again. “In passing. Super high clearance, so I was never allowed to know anything. What’s that got to do with the dead girlfriend?”

“I wasn’t on the Island for the full five years.” Oliver said slowly. “After everything with Slade and the Amazo I was rescued by Amanda Waller...if you can call it a rescue. She took me to Cadmus, which was just another prison. After an escape attempt, I met Kara. She was...like the light in that place. No matter how bad things got, she always had a smile that could light up the place. Smart, so smart, she could build things I still don’t understand out of junk and supplies we could scavenge. Tough as anything, her mother was a general, and Kara learned well.” He stopped and wiped his hands over his face. “I just don’t know, John.”

“Well, man, I think you need to figure it out, before both of you get hurt.” John said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I don’t want to see that, but you should ask yourself, would a girl like that want you to be alone?”

* * *

_ “Okay  _ human,” _ The brown-haired man said, glaring at him. “Why did the Cadmus agents beat you up and leave you for dead?” _

_ Oliver, only slightly sore, sat up. “I told Waller I wanted nothing to do with any of this, that I saw prisoners like me, and she told me to find my way out. I got that far before her men got me.” _

_ “What did they want you for?” Kara asked.  _

_ “To use me against the rest of their prisoners, I guess. Convince me they’re right.” Oliver set his jaw stubbornly. “That backfired.” _

_ “It did?” The man said, suspiciously.  _

_ “They beat me up and left me for dead, as you pointed out.” Oliver shot back. “If you were the monsters they are claiming, you would have left me there.” _

_ “Told you!” Kara crowed victoriously, giving him what was possibly the brightest smile he had seen since Thea was a kid. “I’m Kara-Ze, and this is Lor-Zod.” _

_ “I’m Oliver Queen.” Oliver introduced himself. “Nice to meet you.” _

_ Lor-Zod looked at him suspiciously, before shaking his hand. “If you can piss off Waller that bad, I guess you’re okay.” _

* * *

Oliver knew that John was right. Kara was the kind of person who wouldn’t want him to be alone. She probably would have liked Felicity, they were both smart and could ramble about what they were doing like he understood. So he should probably ask her out. That was the logical thing to do, wasn’t it? He had  _ some  _ sort of feelings for her, evening if he didn’t know what  _ exactly _ they were.

“You gotta speak from the heart.” She said, as they were walking. 

Right. The heart. He paused. “Felicity…”

She paused, turning around. “Yeah?”

Oliver opened his mouth, about to ask her out to dinner when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He blinked, turning. He could have sworn he just saw Nin Del-Var. His eyes scanned the area before he turned back, confused. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Felicity asked, looking at him strangely. 

Oliver started to answer, but then shook his head. “Never mind, it’s probably nothing.” He took a deep breath. “Felicity…”

“Are you feeling okay, Oliver?” Felicity asked, eyes crinkling in concern. 

“Yeah.” Oliver said after a moment. The moment just wasn’t right. He couldn't ask her when she was looking at him like he had gone crazy. “Yeah, I’m fine. Have a good day at work, Felicity.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen.” Felicity snorted.

* * *

“And I just spoke to Ned Foster, he said the board is primed, you just have to go in there and wow them. Which I’m pretty sure is a business term.” Felicity said, as they walked into what had once been his company, ready to face the board, or as ready as he could be.

And then everything started to crack. He was nervous during his speech, especially after meeting Ray Palmer, and it showed. He was fairly certain his voice cracked there on one of the things he said, but then Ray gave his presentation, and Oliver could feel it all slipping away. It was a good presentation. Hell, he might have voted for it.  He was done, he was going to lose Queen Consolidated. 

“Mr. Palmer is right.” A voice said as the lights came on. “Mr. Queen was given a company with no experience on how to handle it.”

Everyone turned around and stared at the man who was standing there. Oliver felt his jaw work to unhinge, but somehow managed to keep it from happening. That was Lor-Zod. What was he doing here? How was he here?

“He went to his board for help and you chose Isabel Rochev, or shall we call her Ravager?” He asked, deploying an advanced hologram of Isabel the night of Slade Wilson’ attacks. “Is that his fault? No.”

Lor walked around the table. “Personally, I’d have probably had you all thrown out in his place, but instead, Oliver’s here, and with a plan for a multimillion dollar joint effort between the old guard of Queen Consolidated and our tech geniuses at Starrware. Now, if you want to hand your company over to Palmer, well — I can rip up this paperwork on joint projects, head into the Glades and tell my CEO, who is buying up the property for a new Starrware Tower here, that we will  _ immediately  _ begin competition with Queen Consolidated...or Palmer Tech.” He put his hands on the table and his frown turned to a grin. “And if that happens, well, hey, I’ll take Oli with me as we revitalize the city. I hear he knows all the hotspots.”

“Who are  _ you _ ?” One of the board members asked, narrowing his eyes. 

“Lorcan Barrett, Chief Financial Officer of Starrware Industries.” Lor introduced himself, smiling his most charismatic smile at the board and handing out papers to each member. “Sorry I was late, someone parked a helicopter on your roof, did you know? I stopped to contact security.”

Oliver pressed his nails into the fleshy part of his palm, trying to prove he was hallucinating. Waller had said Cadmus blew Fort Rozz with everyone on it. She had said everyone was  _ dead _ . What was it with people coming back to life?

“Is this true, Mr. Queen?” One of the women on the board asked. 

“Absolutely.” He had heard of Starrware. Somehow he had never put together that Astra must have founded it, mostly because he believed she was  _ dead _ . He could play along, though. “I would never expect you to let me come back after the mistakes made without some kind of backing. The deal I have arranged with Starrware can help stabilize Queen Consolidated, rebuild the city without turning it into something else, and ensure that I have others with expertise to turn to in case situations get tough. Someone who  _ doesn’t _ want to destroy us.”

The board whispered for a moment. “We will need some time to deliberate. Please wait in the office.”

* * *

Felicity was sparing him strange looks as the four of them, he, Felicity, Lor, and Ray Palmer went into the office. 

“Hey, asshole, long time, no see!” Lor said finally, slapping him on the back. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I thought you were dead!” Oliver replied, shaking his head. “Waller said the whole place blew, killed everyone.”

Lor snorted. “She was half-right.” He admitted slowly. “It did blow, but it blew on purpose...mostly. Ze  _ lost it _ when you were gone. It was...scary. She blew the entire place while we got everyone out.”

Oliver froze. “Lor, Kara died.” 

Lor smiled at him. “I assure you, rumors of her death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Oliver shook his head, unable to believe it. “She died  _ in my arms _ .” 

Lor shook his head, looking at him sadly. “You died in mine.” He replied, hands clenching. “While Ze tried to reprogram one of the medchambers to save you.”

“What?” Oliver repeated, eyes wide. 

“Zod.” Ray spat. “You look just like him. I didn’t know if I was just imagining it.”

“Oh, fuck off, Kal-El.” Lor said dismissively. “I don’t care about your little feud with my old man, and I’m not not interested in bringing him back from his  _ vacation  _ or avenging his nonexistent honor.”

“Then why are you trying to ruin this?” Ray demanded, angrily. “You should be working with  _ me _ to make this world a better place.” 

“You messed with Oli-Var.” Lor said with a shrug. “He’s Rozzian. Rozz sticks together.”

“He’s not one of us!” Ray said, hands flying wide. “Everyone knows exactly who his parents were!” 

“We can choose to be more than what species we were born.” Lor replied, repeating what Kara had said years ago, eyes narrowed. “Oli lived, breathed, fought, and  _ suffered  _ with us, Kal. You learned everything you know from a computer screen.”

“Mr...Barrett,” Felicity interrupted. “Are you really here for a Starrware merger? Or just to fool the board?”

Lor glanced at Felicity and then looked back at Oliver. “You  _ totally _ have a type, don’t you?”

“Felicity and I aren’t…that is to say, we’ve never.” Oliver stuttered, flustered, and suddenly very glad that he hadn’t asked her on that date. “We’re friends and we work together.”

“Good, because I don’t think I stocked enough Ben & Jerry’s to deal with  _ that _ .” Lor said shortly. “But yes, Miss Felicity, I am really here for a Starrware merger.” 

The door to the boardroom opened and the chair of the board walked out. “We are ready for you.” He said seriously, and all conversation dropped away as they filed back into the boardroom. 

The chair cleared his throat. “Having seen the proposals from both Mr. Palmer and from Mr. Queen and Mr. Barrett, the board has decided at this time, to allow Mr. Queen control of Queen Consolidated, on the condition that the arrangements with Starrware go through.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Lor said with a grin. “I’ll text our CEO and CLO right now. We can have the deal done in less than an hour.”

“Mr. Palmer, we thank you for your interest and wish you well on your endeavours.” The chairman said with a false smile.

Ray forced a smile. “I’ll be sure to be back when this fails.” He said easily. “Good day, ladies and gentleman of the board.”


	2. Another You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contracts are signed, and a group meeting in the Arrowcave leads to explanations about what happened and why both sides thought the other was dead.

_ “How are you planning to keep him?” Lor-Zod asked Kara-Ze, and Oliver was torn between wanting to inform them that he was not a pet, and not wanting to open his mouth and offend the aliens.  _

_ Kara rolled her shoulders. “We talk to the Mothers. Yours will vote against him, so we just have to convince Nin Del-Var.” _

_ Lor crossed his arms over his chest. “You think the General will side with you, just because she’s your mother?” _

_ “Not at all.” Kara replied, with a smile that surprised Oliver. The place where they were was gloomy, and it was as if it had lit up slightly. “I expect the General to side with me, because it’s strategically sound to take in one of them, that the humans themselves harmed. I expect my  _ mother _ to side with me, because she loves me and knows we can’t fight all the humans on this planet.” _

_ “You better hope so, because I am not helping you clean out the tanks because you think some human man is pretty.” Lor shot back. _

_ “The General?” Oliver asked despite himself. “And I’m not  _ pretty _.” _

_ Lor smirked at him. “General Astra In-Ze, the head of the triumvirate in charge of the aliens here.” He narrowed his eyes. “She’s one of the fiercest warriors Krypton had.” _

_ Kara rolled her eyes. “She’s also my mother. Ignore him, he’s being dramatic and trying to get under your skin.” _

_ Lor waited until she turned, before shaking his head and drawing his finger across his throat, and Oliver swallowed hard. _

_ Kara glared at him. “Besides, his mother is the one to worry about. She actually  _ wanted _ to marry a megalomaniac.” _

_ “Hey!” Lor complained. “He was head of the military guild!” _

_ “And a megalomaniac.” Kara deadpanned. “And Ursa married him anyway.” _

_ This was  _ not _ helping his nerves. _

* * *

Lor had all the paperwork ready for the deal which would create multiple joint projects between Queen Consolidated and Starrware Industries. While it wasn’t a complete merger, it definitely put the companies in each other’s back pockets. That meant that the stability of Starrware would only buoy Queen Consolidated, the network and solid footing of decades in the markets would help the newcomer establish themselves more firmly. It was an elegant solution, one that made the board feel confident that should something go wrong, they wouldn’t go down alone, which meant that they could risk some trust. There were safety clauses that protected both companies from takeover by the other, which after Isabel, was a relief to everyone, even Oliver, who was having a hard time focusing. 

“And when will we be able to complete the signing?” One of the board members asked, closing his copy of the contracts. 

Lor smiled slightly. “I believe our CEO and CFO are on their way up in the elevator now. I’ll just go grab them, shall I?”

Oliver tensed, to the point where Felicity looked strangely at him as Lor left the room to do just that when the chairman suggested it. He didn’t know if he was ready to face Astra. He hadn’t mourned. He hadn’t allowed himself to mourn. Mourning would have made it real, but because he didn’t, it felt a little like he was getting yanked backward through the years. 

“Are you okay?” Felicity hissed. 

“Fine.” He replied, trying to reassure her with a smile. “It’s...been an unexpected day.”

“Let’s make it better, shall we, Oliver?” A familiar voice asked, and Oliver turned to come face to face with Ursa Bar-Sul. 

“It’s good to see you.” He admitted despite himself. Ursa had always been one of the hardest on him. She had taken the longest to believe he wouldn’t betray them. “It’s been too long.”

“Indeed.” Ursa replied, heading over to the chairman of the board. “Ursula Barrett, CFO of Starrware Industries.”

“Donald Jameson, Chairman of the Board for Queen Consolidated.” He shook her hand easily. “I must say the offer is a good one.”

“Well, Mr. Jameson, we want to change the world.” Ursula said, with that smile that always made Oliver feel as if she was about five seconds from snapping someone’s neck. “To do that, you need good allies.”

“Well then,” Jameson said, holding out a pen. “To changing the world.”

Oliver watched as Ursa signed with a dramatic flourish. 

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Oliver wheeled around in shock at that voice, and stared, unable to help himself. Lor had told him she was alive, that she was  _ here _ , in his city, but somewhere in his mind, he hadn’t let himself believe it. His arms suddenly felt heavy and all he could see was green for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t know what to say for a long moment. He couldn’t ask for answers in front of the board, and he wasn’t sure he wanted them if it meant the miracle would disappear somehow. Instead, he smiled as best he could. 

Kara’s face exploded into one of her wide smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners, and she walked past him, her military gait obvious even in a smart black business suit and pumps. “Kara Starr, CEO and founder of Starrware Industries.” She introduced herself. 

Several eyebrows raised at her youth, but Donald was smooth, even as he handed a pen to Kara. “A pleasure, Miss Starr.”

“Of course.” Kara said with a smile that made everyone at ease, as she signed. 

Well, everyone but Oliver, who still couldn’t help but stare. He felt that if he looked away for a moment, his failure would be writ large in front of him, and he would see her fall and seize, green pulsing beneath her skin as blood covered his hands and soaked his clothes. Felicity elbowed him hard, and jolted him out of it. 

Kara turned toward them. “We have a lot of things to discuss, Oli, your place or mine?”

“Mine might be best.” Oliver said, knowing he would be most comfortable in the familiar space.

“I’ll call Astrid and Nina, and meet you there.” Ursa said easily. “Do you mind if I take the car, Kara?”

“You okay giving me a lift, Oli?” 

“Of course.” Oliver replied, not entirely wanting to let her out of his sight anyway. “Lorcan?”

“I’ll ride with Mom.” Lorcan replied, easily. He gave Oliver a  _ look _ that said he was on his own in  _ that _ car. “I have to stop by the office and file our copies personally.”

“See you there.” Oliver agreed, before gesturing to the door. “We’re parked this way, ladies.”

“I know.” Felicity said, her voice a bit cool. “I came with you this morning.”

Oliver winced at that, falling in step beside both of them. “Kara, my friend Felicity Smoak. Felicity, this is Kara.”

“It’s good to meet you, Felicity.” Kara replied, smiling beatifically, but it didn’t reach her eyes as she looked between them. 

“You too.” Felicity managed. 

Oliver somehow managed to survive the chilly car ride and arrive back at the defunct Verdant in one piece. “It was better when the club was running,” he explained to Kara as he led the way. “But it still works.”

“Is there somewhere I can wash this gunk from my face?” Kara asked, pleading in her tone.

Oliver showed her to the bathroom, and how to enter the basement, before heading down with Felicity. 

“How’d it go?” Dig asked, looking up from the parenting book he was reading.

“First Sara, then Shado, now Kara.” Felicity said, coldly, ignoring the question. “Exactly how many women were you with in your five years of hell, Oliver?”

Dig’s eyes widened. “You told her about Kara? Good for you, Oliver.”

“Not exactly.” Oliver replied, wincing. 

“ _ You knew? _ ” Felicity asked, turning on Dig, as if he had betrayed her. 

“He told me about how she died in his arms.” Dig said with a shrug. “I told him he had to come to terms with it.”

“Well she’s currently washing her face in our headquarters, so she obviously  _ didn’t _ .”

“What?” Dig demanded. “Oliver, what the hell?”

“I have no idea!” Oliver told them, running a hand through his hair. “The last I saw of  _ any of them _ , Waller sent Kara and I on a mission. It went bad. She was poisoned and stabbed, and I had to drag both of us out. I got the blade out, packed the wound as best I could to keep pressure on it, and called for extraction. It took Waller  _ five hours _ to respond. Kara kept seizing from the poison, screaming…” He swallowed hard. By the time Waller got to us, Kara had been dead for over two hours.” He shook his head. “When she did show up, she told me that they had blown up the whole complex, and that everyone was dead. She told me I was released, that I couldn’t be trusted, and returned me to the island.”

“Then how is she here?!” Felicity demanded. “How did she just come in, CEO of one of the major tech companies and just...take over?”

“I don’t know!” Oliver shouted, despite himself.

“Clones.” A voice said calmly, and everyone turned. Kara removed the suit jacket, and threw it to the side. Having removed the makeup meant that her more alien features, notably the paler skin, black lips and the black markings around her eyes were obvious. “You remember Matrix?”

“Yeah, of course.” Oliver said in confusion. “They found her crashed about nine months, a year, before everything went down.”

“Not found,  _ created _ .” Kara disagreed. “We’ve found out since that Matrix was their attempt to blend the genetic codes of several Rozzians with one of their scientists. She was  _ alive _ , but her body was so unstable that she was passed off as another species.” 

Kara stretched slightly. “When Waller sent you on that mission, she didn’t send you with anyone from Rozz, as far as we knew. She arrived back a day later, with you, bloody and dying. She said that there was nothing their medic could do, so she would let you die with us, ' _like the traitor you were,'_ according to her.”

Kara’s cheek ticked, and Lor-Zod, walking in behind her, picked up the story. “Ze rushed you to the med bay, Tor-An ran for Nin Del-Var. I was in the medbay when they brought you in, and immediately tried everything I had in my arsenal. I literally had my hands in your chest, trying to stop the bleeding. Ze started ripping one of the regeneration chamber matrices apart for full conversion and healing at the same time.”

He paused, voice rough. “I was never supposed to give a damn about you, you know.” He spat, almost angrily. “You were just some...some dumb, weak,  _ asshole  _ Ze wanted to keep around. I wasn’t supposed to  _ care _ .” He swallowed angrily against it. “I felt your heart stop, but we kept going. I stopped after I knew not even a full conversion could save you.”

“I didn’t.” Kara said, again, looking away. “Mom eventually pulled me away, and…”

“And she decided that there would be no more experiments, no more missions, no more paying for our existence, no more cells.” Astra said, flatly. “She had us evacuate everyone who couldn’t survive the blast, and blew the entire ship, and all of Cadmus’s labs they had on the premises.” Astra moved over for Ursa and Nin Del-Var to enter. “We thought you dead until you publicly returned two years ago.”

“I still refused to believe it.” Kara admitted. “That’s when I started researching. We started strikes on black sites, on people we knew were associated with Cadmus, and found the truth. They had been partially cloning us, laying our DNA over other humans, genetically modifying people, trying to create an army, growing hybrids in tubes, cloning their best soldiers...”

“Then Kara found one of Waller’s files.” Lor picked up the story. “How you had become a liability, how you and she were too strong together, that you were uniting Rozz, and how she had used two of the failed clones to trick all of us. That the you in Starling was  _ really _ you, and, well, here we are.”

Kara moved forward slowly, until she was right in front of him, looking up at him. “I missed you, Zim-Ra.”

Oliver felt something in his walls crack, and he lowered his head so his forehead pressed against hers. “I missed you too,  _ El’divia. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zim-Ra was a legendary archer and hero from the Krytoniad, akin to Odysseus in human society.
> 
> El’divia is an attempt on my part to create a Kryptonian word for "starlight" or similar. It basically comes out as "starshine," if I did it right. If I didn't, it's fic, I tried.


End file.
